Primeval
by Mecca T. Haw
Summary: With the start of season four, Connor, Abby and Danny are still trapped in time, so it is up to Sarah and Becker to find a way to get them back. Will they succeed? Will Connor, Abby and Danny survive the past?
1. Astray

Astray

Connor was the first to wake up. Every breath he took set his ribs on fire. He knew his injuries were worse then he was letting on, but he could never tell Abby that, never worry her. He was there to protect her and in that one moment of stupidity, that he was still kicking himself for, had taken that all away from him. So the least he could do was not burden her with his troubles.

Abby shifted in her sleep. Connor just watched her, noting how beautiful she looked in the sunlight streaming through the leaves. Her stoic expression soon turned to frown. She turned over again kicking Connor on his side. Connor bit his lip as pain shot through his body. He let out a silent scream and quickly removed Abby's foot from his ribs. Abby slowly opened her eyes and watched as Connor clutched at his ribs looking paler then usual.

She creased her brow with worry. "You okay?"

Connor took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Yea I'm fine. No worries."

Abby pushed herself up into a sitting position and scanned the area for possible predators. "We should probably get moving. I don't want to stay in one place for to long. Danny's probably wondering where we are."

"Yea," Connor glanced down trying to find the easiest way down the tree. He didn't even have the faintest idea how they got up there in the first place. He shifted his weight over to the edge and heard a loud snap. The next thing he knew he was plummeting to the ground. He let out a blood-curdling scream as his broken body hit the uneven earth.

Abby climbed hurriedly down the tree. "Connor! Are you okay? Connor answer me!"

Connor took in a few gasping breaths. He felt shattered and sore. He managed to say, "Yes I'm fine…" before blacking out.

******

Sarah knew that this time it had to work. For a month now she had been trying to duplicate the anomaly device Helen stole from the future to get her teammates back. Lester told her to give up, that they should be declared dead, killed in action, or some such nonsense. He had forbidden her to work on the device, saying that her talents were better spent elsewhere, but she continued to dabble during her free time and whenever Lester wasn't checking up on her. Which seemed to be more frequent these days. As if he suspected her of disobeying his orders. As she tinkered with the poorly constructed device in front of her, she thought of Connor, Abby, and Danny lost and afraid of never coming home, which made her resolve strengthen. This time it would work.

******

Danny never felt so alone in his life. The anomaly had closed and who knows when the next one would open or if there will ever be a next one. He wanted to scream. He didn't know how this could happen. He was right there! Right fucking there! And now there was no way home. He thought about home with his cat, Ellie and his friends. Then there was that coy smile. The way her lips moved when she spoke. The way her eyes dug holes into your heart.

"Jenny." His whole body filled with rage at the frustration he was feeling right now. He had to lash out at something, do something.

He got to his feet and ran over to the nearest tree, kicking and tearing at its bark until his fingers bled. He picked up rocks and started throwing them at the herd of early elephants nearby. Which was probably not a good idea since they spooked easily. He felt the ground shake beneath his feet as a stampede of elephants, he guessed, sped towards him. He paused, frozen in the sight of their sheet might. Then coming out of the spell he ran. He ran for his life, back towards the cliffs. He figured if he got there he would be safe.

The fragile rocks broke and crumbled in his hand as he tried to climb the cliff surface. Finally he grabbed hold of a ledge and pulled himself up. He found himself at the opening of a cave. As his eyes adjusted to the light her saw 6 pairs staring straight back at him.

******

Abby got down next to Connor and looked him over. She didn't want to move him, for fear of injuring him more. She checked his ankle, which had become swollen and purple. It was definitely broken. She lifted up his shirt and saw a horrific mass of black and blue lining his ribcage. They had obviously been like that for a while. Abby closed her eyes; she was hurt that he would keep something like this from her. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his struggled breaths. She knew they would have to find a way back soon or… she didn't even want to think of the other possibility. She would find a way to bring them back.

Connor moaned beneath her and slowly opened his eyes. He gave a few pained laughs. "I need to stop doing that, the falling thing." He tried to push himself to his feet and by the end of this his face was an unnatural sickly green color. "We should head over to where we last saw Helen, Danny would have gone that way." Connor remarked, glancing over Abby's worried expression.

"Yea." She mumbled quietly. She pulled Connor's arm over her shoulder and wrapped her arm gently around his waist. They pressed forward at a painfully slow pace. She didn't want to strain Connor and didn't know what she was going to do when a larger predator came along. Connor couldn't run and his fighting skills weren't much to brag about even before he was injured.

The moved to the spot where they last saw Danny. Abby set Connor down on a log. He panted heavily. She looked around for any sign of their friend. Connor looked down, noticing something shinny wedged between the logs. "Abby? What is that?" He pointed to the object.

Abby picked it up and excitedly wiped off the dirt. "It's the anomaly device! The one that Helen had! She must have dropped it! Does it still work?" She shoved it into Connor's hands. Her heart leapt as their hands touched.

He began tinkering with the little handheld. "I think I can get the last coordinates. Danny probably followed her through." He pressed different combinations of buttons and pointed it towards the spot where that anomaly was and the shards of light burst open. Connor felt like jumping for joy, but figured that wouldn't be a good idea.

Abby lifted Connor to his feet and they proceeded through the anomaly.

******

Sarah and Becker exchanged a look as the anomaly detector sounded its screeching alarm. He knew what to do. While Sarah was here at the arc working on the anomaly device, he was to go through the new anomalies and look for any signs of their friends. He hated to admit it, but he missed them too. Two months had passed since their disappearance and he would give anything to hear one of Connors quirky remarks right about now.

He assembled his team, which now consisted of a few odd soldiers and moved to the anomaly site. It was in a field, easy for containment. Everything seemed quiet, almost too quiet as they moved across the grassy field. He motioned for his team to surround the anomaly. He wanted to go through, see if there was any sign of Abby, Connor, or Danny. He left his second in command in charge while he went through.

He would never get used to the feeling of going through an anomaly. It felt almost like a tingling sensation moving from one time to the other. He emerged in a jungle. It was hot and sticky; sweat was already starting to form on his brow. He wiped it away with his sleeve and marched forward, his tranquilizer gun in hand. He had stuck to Nick Cutter's No Killing Rule, except when the future predators were involved.

There was a growl and the rustling of leaves beside him. He paused as razor sharp teeth lunged toward him. He used his gun to swat them away. It was to close to shoot. The vicious jaws of the creature tore his black shirt. Scratches ran up his arms, and warm blood trickled off his arms and chest. He began to run back towards the anomaly. He figured his friends weren't trapped here and if they were they probably wouldn't have survived long. The tares in his shirt kept getting caught on the tree branches as he made his escape, that soon the shirt was just strips of cloth hanging off his body.

He jumped through the anomaly and ordered his team to lock it. They had made a more portable version of Connor's locking mechanism in the months he was gone. After all the excitement had died down he looked down at himself assessing the damage and noticed that his shirt was completely gone.

"Why am I always coming back shirtless…" this had been the 4th time that month that he had lost or completely destroyed his shirt while going through an anomaly. "Fuck."

******

The early humans inched closer to Danny at the mouth of the cave. They were more curious then anything else. Especially one of the female Australopithecus. She moved closer her eyes wide as she took in the sight of Danny. She pressed her hand against his cheek then excitedly jumped around the cave, hooting in some primitive language.

Danny backed away confused. He wasn't sure what to expect out of these early humans. He moved towards the ledge. The herd of elephants had passed and he wanted to get back to the anomaly sight just in case anything happened. He moved to climb down the side of the cliff. The female "monkey" as Danny called them, followed after him shifting from rock to tree. He felt almost flattered by the creature's interest. But it didn't matter what he thinking, he had to get back, he had to get back and tell Jenny how he felt about her.

He made it back to the site and still there was nothing. No sign of another anomaly. He would wait; if no anomaly formed on its own, his friends would find a way to save him. He made a sort of nest of leaves and grass; it was starting to get dark. The monkey was still watching him. He lay down on his makeshift bed and watched the stars. He had never seen a sky look so alien. He was used to the haze of factories smoke and the sound of cars speeding through the English night.

All of a sudden a large hairy head blocked his gaze, staring down at him. He let out a startled scream, which caused the creature to run frightened behind a tree. It peered out at him again. He had to laugh at the sheer humor of his situation. He was lost in the past, with no way home and he already had a girlfriend. He lay down again and closed his eyes. He didn't realize how exhausted he was. Within seconds he was fast asleep. He didn't even wake up when the shards of time opened up in front of him.

******

Abby and Connor stumbled through the anomaly. It was dark on the other side and it took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust. They saw a large figure laying on the ground while a second shadow crouched over it. They recognized Danny lying on the ground. Abby rushed forward shooing the hairy creature away.

"Danny! Danny, are you all right?" Abby shook him.

Danny woke up with a start and couldn't believe his eyes. One day and his friends had already found him. He couldn't say anything he just stood up and gave Abby a long crushing hug. Connor smiled as Abby struggled in his arms.

"Dan…ny. Can't… breath…" Abby struggled to catch her breath. Danny reluctantly let Abby go and sported a huge grin on his face.

"Sorry. " He ran his fingers through his hair. "How did u get here?"

Abby rushed back to Connor and helped lower him to the ground. He gasped with each movement. "He- Helen left this behind when she came through the anomaly. We got it to bring us to the last known coordinates, which is where we found you. Tah Dah!" Connor still managed to keep up with his witty remarks through all the pain he was in.

"Great so now we have a way home!" Danny said enthusiastically.

Connor felt something rummaging in his coat pocket and screamed when he cam face to face with a large hairy monkey face. It stared at him in surprise, clutching the anomaly device in it paws. "No. No no no no! Give that back!" He tried to snatch it back, but the quick movement sent a surge of pain through his body almost causing him to black out again.

Danny went after the creature, cornering it by the rock. He tried to sooth it with his voice. "There now. You don't want to break it. Give it back." He reached out for it, hoping she would understand.

Instead she proceeded to throw the device on the ground and run away. Danny swiftly picked it up and cursed himself for not getting there sooner. Along the front of the device was a large crack. He gave it back to Connor, Connor fiddled with the device and he managed to get it to glow again, but his brow creased with worry.

"It still works, but it's not as precise as I'd like it to be. I mean I can get us back to our time but it might be a few days difference or a few years..."

"Years!" Danny didn't want to hear of it. "No that's not an option. We need to go home and we need to go home now."

Connor slowly pushed himself to his feet. "I will try, but it's not as easy as all that!" he slumped over and Abby quickly moved to steady him.

"Hey! Both of you stop! Right now I think we should rest and try to work this out in the morning!" Abby tried to clear the ever rising male testosterone.

"Fine." Danny sat back down in his bed, making room for Abby and Connor.

Danny fell a sleep first, then Connor. Abby was last, she stayed up listening to Connor's breathing. It was ragged and shallow. She was so afraid for him. Watching him like this hurt her. She knew in that moment just as she had known when he had saved her life that she loved him. She loved him with all her heart and nothing was ever going to change that. She just didn't know how to tell him. She curled up next to Connor, keeping him warm with her body heat and slowly drifted off to sleep.

******

Connor felt the pain in his ribs becoming worse, but he needed to fix this, he needed to get Abby home. Danny sat on a rock nearby waiting impatiently for the device to work. Abby sat near Connor, watching as each movement weakened him. He put the coordinates in for home. The time setter was still off the closest he could get was two months in the future. It was going to have to do.

"Okay I think I've got it. The time will be a little off…"

"How far off?" Danny interrupted.

"About two months." Connor gritted his teeth as he got to his feet. Danny didn't say anything he could live with that. Connor continued. "Okay here we go." He pointed the device in front of him and an anomaly sprung to life. Abby looked back at him, a large grin spread across her lips. Then her smile began to fade. At first he didn't know why. He had opened the anomaly and they were going home. Then he felt the warm trickle of blood on his chin. His whole body erupted in coughs. He fell to his knees coughing out his lungs. He spewed blood on the sandy colored earth. That was the last thing he remembered before delving into darkness.

******

Becker jumped to his feet as the anomaly detector sounded its alarm. He wasn't too enthusiastic. He expected to find nothing of his friends. They were gone and he had to accept that fact. Sarah could play with her gadgets all she wanted, they were never coming back. His team assembled as usual and headed out. They spotted the anomaly from a mile away. This time it had appeared in an old warehouse. Another easy containment area. All they had to deal with were the few odd homeless people and who would believe them?

Becker and his team surrounded the anomaly. It began to quiver and shake indicating that something was coming through. They aimed their guns at the anomaly and waited in silence. To Becker's surprise, Abby appeared, tears streaming down her face. Becker lowered his gun and rushed over to her.

"Abby! You're alive! What's wrong where are the others?" Becker braced her shoulders.

"Danny is coming through with Connor. Connor's hurt bad! We need a medical team now!" she was in hysterics by the time Danny came through carrying Connor.

This scene felt eerily familiar. When Connor had carried Nick Cutter out of the burning building in his arms. This time would be different, Becker assured himself. Connor would live. He ordered his teammates to call for a medical team. Danny laid Connor on the ground. Blood stained the front of his shirt.

The medical team arrived in minutes followed by Lester. He was unable to contain his joy and he lost his usual stoic expression for a few seconds at least. Abby went with Connor when they took him away. Leaving Lester to deal with questioning Danny.

"What in God's name, happened to you all?" Lester wanted to hug Danny, but thought that would be entirely inappropriate.

Danny explained about following Helen through the one anomaly after the other and the flash bomb that had caused Connor to injure himself. He told him Helen's ingenious plan to wipe out the human race. "Helen's dead. A raptor got to her."

Lester chuckled at the irony. "Got what she deserved."

******

Abby paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room. The arc didn't have the proper facilities to deal with Connor's injuries. Their cover story was an unfortunate mountain climbing accident. After a few hours it seemed like the entire arc was in the waiting room, all anxiously awaiting news of their friend. Sarah sat next to Abby, holding her hand and squeezing it every once in a while for reassurance. Abby was almost inconsolable, but Sarah didn't need her to say anything. Just her being there put her more at ease.

All twenty pairs of eyes looked up as the doctor came through the door. Abby got to her feet, nervous. "How is he? When can I see him?"

The doctor responded calmly. "We got him through surgery. He had several broken ribs and one had punctured his lung, also his ankle was shattered. We were able to repair most of the damage and now have him in a medically induced coma. Now all we can do is wait."

"Okay… Um… can I see him please?" Abby shifted from foot to foot, anxious to see the man she loved.

"Yes right this way." The Doctor motioned for the door and all twenty people began to follow. "No. Only her."

Abby and the Doctor made their way down the long white corridor. Abby felt sickened by the harsh smell of bleach and cleaning chemicals. Finally they made it to his room. "I'll leave you two alone." With that the Doctor turned on his heels and walked back down the corridor.

Abby walked slowly into the room. Connor looked so fragile on the hospital bed. Now that he was clean, his bruises showed up a brighter purple. She sat in the chair next to his bed and took his hand in hers. It felt natural for them to be this way.

******

Abby hadn't gone home since they arrived back in their time almost two days ago. She barely left Connor's side. The Doctor said they were slowly taking him off the sedatives and he should wake up any day now. She was exhausted with worry and had fallen asleep in the chair beside him.

Connor awoke feeling sore and groggy. He opened his eyes to find the world spinning. Blinking, he adjusted to the harsh fluorescent lights. Abby sensed the movement and immediately went to check on him. Her heart leapt for joy, as she shouted for a nurse.

"Hey… How are you feeling?" Abby sat beside him on the bed.

Connor scrunched his face in thought. "I'm so sorry. Do I know you?"

Abby looked horrified. No, Not now. Not after all they've been through. "No, Connor. I'm Abby! Abby remember?" Her voice shook in desperation.

Connor began to laugh, but was cut off by the pain in his ribs. "I'm only joking!"

Usually something like this would piss her off to no end. Instead she took his grinning face in her hands and planted a tender longing kiss to his lips. This unfortunately was how Lester spotted them on his way in. he quickly turned around, a red tinge spreading across his cheeks.

******

A few days later the hospital let Abby take Connor home. She wheeled him to the car, racing him over the speed bumps in the parking lot. They drove away from the hospital for hopefully the last time. As the roads became more and more familiar, a broad grin spread across Connor's face. Abby parked in front of their flat and helped Connor out with his crutches.

Abby unlocked the door and was immediately blown away by "If You Wanna Be My Lover" by the Spice Girls. She helped Connor cautiously up the stairs. In the lounge was Lester in his boxers and undershirt singing in a deep gravely voice. He had Nancy in his arms and Sid danced at his feet. Rex flew figure eights around his head. Upon seeing Abby and Connor, he chirped excitedly and flew into Abby's arms, nuzzling against her breast.

Lester paused and turned around, finding Abby and Connor giggling to themselves. He almost dropped Nancy, trying to preserve his stoic manner. He set Nancy on the ground with Sid, as Abby switched off the music.

"What are you doing here?" Abby asked, laughter in her eyes.

Lester glanced down, clearing his throat. "I uh… Well you have been gone for two months and your little friends… I mean pets needed someone to take care of them. And it's bloody hot in here! And I'm glad you're better!"

Lester quickly put on his clothes, ran down the stairs and out of the apartment.

Abby and Connor just stood there and finally burst into laughter.


	2. Velociraptor

"Velociraptor"

Connor was bored out of his mind. He had been bed ridden for the past two days. And even though he loved her to death, Abby Maitland was driving him crazy. At first, he loved her taking care of him, cooking, moving his video games up stairs, and has even stop everything she was doing to come up to his room and scratch his back. But now, it was just annoying. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't leave the bed except to go to the bathroom, he couldn't do any of his work from the ARC, and he couldn't play with Rex, Sid or Nancy. The only thing he was glad about was that Abby was giving him all the loving he needed, as in they had kissed on more then several occasions. Just thinking about it made him happy. He did his Connor smile and looked at Abby who was sitting next to him on the bed. Ever since that fateful day at the hospital, she has been more lovable. She tells him she loves him all the time, which makes Connor even happier.

But still, what was he going to do about his boredom? Maybe when she went to the market I could sneak out and goes to the ARC, Connor thought. Abby was looking at him, and like always, knew what he was thinking.

"No," Abby said firmly.

"What?" Conner replied, trying to look innocent. He even tried to do the whistling routine, but he could tell by Abby's face that she wasn't buying it.

"You are not leaving until you are healed enough that you don't hurt when you breathe."

"That could take ages!" Connor whined. Abby smiled and kissed him of the cheek. "Hey," Connor said accusatory, "No fair!"

"Who said I was going to be fair?" Abby said smiling. "Now, I'm going to the market, and to make sure you stay in bed, I have called you a babysitter." As she said this, the doorbell rang and Abby went down stairs to answer it.

"Oi! I don't need no stinking babysitter. I'm a grown man!" Connor yelled to Abby.

"Well, you certainly are grown," The voice of Captain Becker said. "But I wouldn't call you a man." Becker came up the stairs wearing fully loaded SWAT team clothes. He even a gun, which Connor eyed suspiciously.

"Don't worry Connor, its only if you don't stay in bed. And it's just a tranquilizer."

"Don't you have anything else to wear, Becker? Or is it always tight black shirts and black cargo pants?"

"Well Connor, why did you notice his shirt? Have you not told me something?" Abby asked laughing. "Now you two behave yourselves. I'll be back in a hour." She kissed Connor and left.

"So, Becker," Connor asked, "Have you ever played _Left 4 Dead 2_? I'm pretty boss at it myself." Becker just scoffed and went back down stairs.

"Becker! Get me some apple juice!" Connor yelled.

"For the last time, Connor. I will not get you apple juice, I will not scratch your back, and I will certainly not kiss you and say I love you just because Abby does it!" Becker said angrily from downstairs.

"I was just asking." Connor mumbled. "Bored, bored, bored." Connor said. He didn't know what to do. He looked around his room, and he spotted a picture of Nick Cutter and himself. Connor smiled a sad smile. He missed his professor, and he hasn't forgotten what Nick had said to him before he died. "Its up to you now." And look at how good I'm fulfilling my promise, Connor thought sarcastically. Connor used to idolize his professor, really he still did. He used to look online at every article Nick had publish and read them all. That gave Connor an idea.

"Why not?" Connor said to himself. He got his laptop and started looking for articles written by Cutter. He looked through many of what he already read. After about fifteen minutes of searching, he found several articles written by a one Dr. Vela Firth. She was a paleontologist. It spiked Connors interest, so he continued reading her articles. Connor wondered why this Vela character was showing up on "Nick Cutter" searches, so he decided to Wikipedia her. Immediately, her name came up in his searches and he clicked on the link. He saw a picture of her, and she kind of looked like Helen.

"But if Helen wasn't an old disgusting hag and she had Nicks beautiful and flowing blond locks." Connor said to himself. He scrolled down and read about her life. She was a genius, it said, a childhood prodigy. She had gotten her doctorate at the age of 22, a year ago according to the website. She specializes in carnivores and "she like long walks on the beaches where you can find bones."

"Oh, here's a fun fact, she was named after the Velociraptor. Cool beans." Connor continued to read when his mouth dropped open. He had to re-read it several times. He couldn't believe what he was reading. He went other websites and read about Vela, but all of them said the same jaw-dropping sentence. "Vela is the daughter of well known paleontologists Helen and Nick Cutter. Vela was born before the two were married, so on her birth certificate her last name was Helen's maiden name. It was never officially changed, so she just goes by Firth personally and professionally." Connor couldn't speak.

"I'm speechless." Connor said.

"Love," Abby said, standing in the doorway, "isn't the whole thing about being speechless, is that you don't speak? I kind of wish you were, because Connor, you talk a lot."

"Um, Abby?" Connor's voice squeaked. He was still trying to adjust to this news.

"Yes Connor?"

"Well, I just discovered something very significant. Like really, really big."

"Spit it out Connor."

"Well I kind of just accidentally discovered that, umm, well, Nick Cutter has a daughter."

"Wh-what?" Abby asked confused. "That's impossible! He never told us about any child."

"I know this Abby, but its true! It says it all over the Internet. I even hacked into a government file on her. Its true, she is his daughter." Abby and Connor was quiet. They both heard Becker leave the house. Neither knew what to say. How could their leader, their friend, not tell them about his daughter? They thought he was someone they could always trust, but I guess they were wrong.

"Do you think Stephan knew?" Abby asked Connor, who just shook his head.

"I have no idea, but I think we should call a meeting with everyone."

"And say what? That Nick had a long lost daughter that he never told us about? I mean it's not exactly relevant to anyone but me, you and maybe Lester. "

"Sarah knew him, and so did Becker. I don't think its good to keep it a secret either. We might as well go to the ARC and tell them about the daughter, Vela."

"What?!?" Lester bellowed. "He had a what?"

"A daughter, Lestey. Keep up!" Connor said.

"First off, call me Lestey again and you're fired. Second, why didn't he tell us about her?" The whole team was at the ARC, listening to the surprising news. Most of them knew Nick, besides Danny, but no one but Lester seemed phased by the news. They were more surprised that Cutter didn't tell them.

"We don't know, Lester. We are as shocked and confused as you." Abby stated hugging Connor.

"I wonder if she even knows her father is dead." Sarah mused. "I mean she probably didn't know her mother wasn't dead from her disappearance before hand, but she wasn't at Nick's funeral."

"You're right," Abby said. " If she doesn't know, we have got to tell her."

"Slow down there Abby." Danny said. "What are we going to do? Go up to her door and say 'Hey, how are you? Well I have something to change that smile! You know your father? Yeah, well he's dead. Oh, by the way, you mother was alive this whole time until two months ago—when a dinosaur killed her.'"

"Well I wouldn't put it like that."

"Abby is right," Sarah said. " We should talk to her, see if she knows her father is dead. I think it would be best that we didn't mention Helen. Where does she live?" She asked, turning to Connor.

"Why look at me? How would I know?" Connor said defensively.

"Because you are the master creep and know everything about everyone." Becker said.

"Yeah, well." Connor said, searching "Vela Firth" in the ARC's computers. "You don't have to put it like that, SWAT Barbie."

"Just do the sear—"

"Done!" Connor yelled. He had a proud smile on his face because he finished the search before Becker could finish his retort.

"Where does she live?" Becker asked, eyeing Connor evilly.

"117 Belsize Lane, Belsize Park, England."

"Let's go," Abby said grabbing her coat.

Vela Firth lived in a quiet neighbor, a suburb of London, in a beautiful townhouse flat. She loved it, because she had decorated it all on her own, with her own tastes and her own money.

"And it looks much better than the old crap-house that _she_ decorated. " Vela said as she and her pregnant self flopped down onto her newly purchased couch. She propped her feet on top of her coffee table. "Babe! I love you and all, but I can't wait for you to get out of my belly. Five months to go!" Vela turned on the telly, but before she could turn the channel, her doorbell rang. "Damn it all to hell. Now I have to drag my pregnant body…" she mumbled as she opened her door.

"Hi!" A man said. Six unknown faces stared at her from her stoop.

"Uh, hi…" Vela said confused. "Sorry, but do I know any of you?"

"Um, not really Vela." A girl with bleached blonde hair said. "We were, are, friends of your father's. We worked with him. I'm Abby." Abby stuck out her hand and Vela shook it.

"Oh, come in then." Vela responded walking back into her flat, kind of waddling.

"I'm Connor"

"Becker."

"Lester"

"Danny,"

"Hi, I'm Sarah."

"Well, now that we all know each other, can you tell me why you are all here?" Vela snapped, but then immediately felt bad. "Sorry, the pregnant hormones are taking over my body."

"Is your husband here?" Abby asked.

"Ha! Husband," Vela snorted. "No, no husband here. Just me by my lonesome."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sarah, said looking around the room. It was very nicely decorated. "I love your flat, by the way. Very beautiful."

"Why thank you," Vela said proudly. "It took me a few weeks, but I got everything unpacked and ready to go."

"Um, Vela, there is something I have to tell you." Connor said.

"Finally, the reason." Vela said sarcastically. "Oh, sorry. Bad Hormones," Vela poked her stomach, 'bad!"

"Um, maybe you want to sit down for this, Vela," Abby said touching her shoulder. Everyone look sympathetic and sad.

"Uh oh," Vela said, sitting down.

"Um, I don't know how to put this, so I'm just going to say it," Abby said sitting down next to her. There was an awkward pause.

"Well, are you going to say it now?" Vela asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Your father, Nick, has passed away." Abby said, rubbing Vela's back.

"Wh-what?" Vela yelled. She stood up quickly and started to pace. "This is impossible." Vela stopped, and looked at Abby. "When, how?"

"About five months ago," Connor said.

"What?" Vela asked confused.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. But no one knew that you even existed." Lester said, half hugging Vela. Everyone looked at him weirdly, but got back to the issue at hand.

"Yeah, well, my father didn't really like talking about his personal life." Vela paused. "How did it happen?"

"He was shot." Sarah said.

"Do you know who?" Vela yelled.

"Yes—"

"No—" Both Connor and Lester said at the same time. They eyed each other, daring them to continue.

"Well, which is it?" Vela asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"We do know who is was, but we can't tell you." Sarah said. Vela looked at her incredulously.

"And why not?"

"It's classified." Lester said with a tone that made it final. Vela looked at him, but shook her head.

"Does Stephan Hart know?" She asked slowly.

"Stephan?" Connor and Abby said together. Lester looked so sympathetic.

"Yeah, Stephan." Vela said impatiently.

"Oh God." Connor said sadly.

"Vela, Stephan died almost a year ago." Abby said.

"Wha—?" Vela said stumbling over to the couch. She sat down hard and put her head into her lap. "No, no, no, no, no! I haven't talked him in months, the same with Dad. Last time was about a year ago. We haven't been in much contact because of me getting my doctorate and them starting a new job." Vela looked up with tears streaming down her face. "I didn't think anything of it. Stephan was like a brother to me."

"I am so sorry." Abby said.

"Yeah, I heard you. Sorry, hormones." Vela said absently. She was still crying. How could this have happened? Her father and Stephan couldn't be dead. "They didn't even know that they were going to be a grandfather and an uncle."

"I'm—" Danny started, but was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his back pocket. "Oh, great. An anomaly." He pulled a handheld anomaly detector from his back pocket. He looked up quickly. "Its 100 ft away from here." Vela didn't even hear what he was saying. She was still trying to wrap around her head that her Dad and a man practically her brother had died, and she didn't even know about it. She heard footsteps, and she looked up to see everyone moving around.

"What's going on?" Vela asked confused.

"Vela, something is happening that we can't explain to you now." Sarah said pulling Vela to her feet. "But I'm taking you somewhere safe." Vela numbly nodded her head and followed Sarah outside to the car. Vela heard a crash behind her. "Oh my God." Sarah said looking over her shoulder.

"What now?" Vela asked, turning around. Vela had to blink twice. "It must be the grief because I see a huge dinosaur in front of me. An _Eoceratops,_ to be precise. Beautiful creature. Herbivore." Vela said dully. "I wonder why I'm hallucinating that one. My favorite is the _Velociraptor_. I was name after it you know."

"Um, Vela, its not a hallucination." Sarah said quickly. "I know you're going through a difficult time right now, but I think you should really push all that aside a run!" Sarah pushed Vela, which made Vela wake up from the dream-like state she was in. She shook her head and looked at the dinosaur.

"Nope, that is definitely real." Vela said. "Okay then. Well, this is new." It's beautiful, She thought. The horned animal was the earliest of the horned dinosaurs. In fact, its name translates to "early horned face". " People usually confuse this species with the character 'Sarah' from the _Land Before Time._ But that species came after." The _Eoceratops_ was walking down the street. Luckily, everyone was at work, so the team didn't have to worry so much about containment. Vela started walking towards it, against the protests of Sarah coming from behind her.

"Vela, come back!" Sarah yelled. However, Vela went straight up to the animal and looked into its eyes.

"Its amazing!" Vela said. Sarah came running up behind her.

"Come on, Vela, we have to go! You don't know what you are dealing with!"

"Um, Sarah, if you didn't know this before, I'm a paleontologist." Vela said. "A genius, though I don't like to brag. My parents were famous paleontologists, and they taught me about dinosaurs since I was born. If anyone know what they are getting into, its me."

"Yes but—"

"Don't worry, as long as we stay in its line of view, we won't be viewed as a threat." Vela said looking back to the beauty standing in front of her. She reached out her hand and touched the animal.

"Hey!" Danny said running up to her and Sarah. "Get away from it!"

"It's a girl actually. And completely harmless, unless you spook it with loud noises." Vela said, looking at Danny. Abby ran to them, holding a gun, with Connor limping behind her. "You're not going to shoot her!" Vela said in a loud whisper.

"Of course not! This is a tranquilizer." Abby said, looking worried and offended.

"Oh, okay." Vela said giving into Abby. She probably knew more about the situation, Vela thought. Just then, there was a roar, sounding very close by. And it didn't come from the animal in front of her.

"What was that?" Becker asked, running towards them.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound good." Lester said from behind a phone booth. He was hiding from the herbivore.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, that was the sound of a carnivore." Vela said, looking at Becker. "So no, it's not good."

"How do you know it is a carnivore?" Connor asked interested. Vela shrugged.

"My co-worker at the university I work at is doing a new study on the voices of dinosaurs. He let me listen to them." Vela explained. "But I think we have a bigger problem." Vela pointed ahead of her, to a big t-rex looking animal.

"It's a t-rex!" Lester screamed and hid more behind the phone booth.

"No it isn't." Vela said. "Actually its, worse. It's a _Daspletosaurus_. Its teeth are sharper and its jaw is more powerful." Vela turned to Abby. "You can kill that one."

"Sarah!" Danny yelled. "Get Vela out of here!" For once, Vela didn't protest. She was thinking of her kid at the moment, and she thought that her child was more important than any dinosaur, even if this was a once in a lifetime experience.

"I know what you're thinking," Sarah said, grabbing Vela's hand and pulling her to the car. "But you're wrong." Sarah and Vela jumped into the car and Sarah started it up. "This is not a once in a lifetime experience." Sarah drove fast, dodging the few people on the street that didn't have work. "Stick with us, this will happen more often then you want too." Sarah looked at Vela and smiled. However she had to swerve out of the way to avoid a running pedestrian. "Why is it that every time something like this happens, people run into the streets?"

"I know right! It's a evolution flaw." Vela said, and in spite of herself, she smiled. They drove fast. Vela looked out the window as Sarah concentrated on the road. "Um, Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"What is that really bright thing with shaped coming out from it?"

"Oh that?" Sarah said, still looking at the road. "That's an anomaly. I'll explain later."

"Where are we going?"

"To the ARC, of course."

"Of course," Vela said sardonically. "The ARC."

Vela and Sarah finally made it to the ARC. It was big and beautiful and "Probably a waste of our taxpayer's money," as Vela put it.

"Its not. We save lives with this place." Sarah said, going through security. Vela almost wasn't allowed in, but Vela gave the security officer a pregnant lady look, he let her in.

"If you say so." Vela said looking around. The ARC was very white, very bright, and very cool.

"Come on, I'm sure you want something to drink or a rest or something."

"Yeah, or how about and explanation?" Vela said turning to Sarah. "That would be a god one." Sarah at first hesitated, but then she decided that Vela could be trusted. One, because Vela was Nick Cutter's kid and two because she was going to be a mom. Faulty reasoning, she knew, but still her gut said to trust the young paleontologist. So she told Vela everything, from her Mother actually being alive, to the anomalies to, to her mother killing her father and to her mother actually dying. This brought on silence, not tears as Sarah expected.

"Fucking bitch," Said Vela.

"Helen?" Sarah asked confused.

"Of course her! First she walks out on me and my father, and we thought she was dead. Now I come to hear that she was alive all that time, killed my father and almost killed the whole of the human race?"

"Um, yeah,"

"Fucking. Bitch." Vela said firmly.

"You're right." Sarah said. "I'm sorry that you had to have learned this all on the same day. Isn't there some one I could call?" Sarah asked, unconsciously looking at Vela's pregnant body.

"Like the father?" Vela asked, laughing.

"Yeah, where is he?"

"My baby doesn't have a father."

"I know it feels like that now, but whatever he is feeling will pass and he will help you."

"For the last time, there is no father! I mean, _technically_ there is, but he was just a sperm donor." Vela explained. "I'm a lesbian. I like the vag."

"Oh…" Sarah said, realizing.

"You see, I was with my girlfriend for four years. She's 30 now, and four months ago, she decided she wanted to start a family with me. I agreed to get inseminated and become pregnant." Vela said sadly. "However, a month ago, she decided she didn't want the child anymore and that she want me to have an abortion. I told her no, and we had a big fight. I broke up with her."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sarah said holding Vela's hand. "That's terrible."

"Yeah, and I still love her so much, but I hate her for what se made me do."

"Who wouldn't? she made you choose between her and your child. What kind of person would do that?"

"I know right?"

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Sarah said.

"And all I want is to down a set of apple martinis but I can't." Vela yawned. "But it will all be worth it, in… the… end…" Vela said sleepily. Sarah smiled, and led Vela to a cot that they keep in the locker room. She put Vela down on the bed and sat next to her.

"You have had the worse day possible. You should be sleeping."

"Yeah sleeping," Vela said as she closed her eyes. Sarah smiled, kissed Vela and turned of the light.

"Goodnight."


	3. Black Poison

Black Poison

Abby and Connor had become unbearably cute. Every time Lester saw them together, they were holding hands, sharing a kiss or just gazing lovingly at one another. Lester sat at his desk, seemingly content. He had given Connor, Danny, and Abby their jobs back, happily he admitted. It was frightfully dull without them. He missed the noise. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His meditation was interrupted by the sound of Sarah and Becker shouting at each other while entering his office.

"You men and your pigheadedness!" Sarah prodded Becker's Kevlar vest with her finger.

"Pigheadedness! You're the one to talk!" Becker glared at Sarah.

"Oh please…."

Lester slapped his desk interrupting Sarah's retort. "Oh please, shut! Up!"

Both Becker and Sarah stared at him wide eyed.

Lester lowered himself into his chair and motioned for them to do the same. They complied and Lester continued. "What are you two bickering about?"

"Vela!" Sarah and Becker glared at each other.

Lester crossed his arms. "What about Vela?"

Becker and Sarah began their explanations at the same time. Each time getting louder to drown out the other.

"Hold it!" Lester raised his hand to silence them. "One at a time! Dr. Page, you go first."

"Okay, I think we should include Vela in the ARC. She is obviously qualified and it's Nick Cutter's daughter for Christ's sake! If we don't, she is going to want answers. She's seen the anomaly already!" Sarah patiently presented her argument.

Lester thought for a moment. "Well. That sounds reasonable to me. Bring her in."

Becker stood up obviously annoyed. "But sir!"

Lester shushed him like he was a little child. "No more talking. Get back to work."

******

Vela just sat in her flat not knowing what to do with herself. Just a few days ago she found out that her father was dead, as well as Stephan, and her mother had been alive the whole time she was missing but had also died 2 months ago.

"They were killed by dinosaurs…" She said it again, just to make herself believe it.

Vela jumped as a loud knock sounded from her front door. She peered through the peephole and saw the young woman she had met a few days before. Sarah, she thought that was her name. A smile spread across her face as she opened the door.

"Hey! What brings you to my humble abode? Another one of my relatives die?"

Sarah's smile faltered at the remark. "Um… No… I do have to talk to you about something. May I come in?"

Vela stepped aside, allowing Sarah to enter. She watched Sarah as she walked into her living room. Vela couldn't dispute it, Sarah was attractive. She closed the door and followed after her.

"I know this is kind of a cliché but would you like some tea? Or would you prefer coffee?" Vela asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you." Sarah sat down in one of the armchairs.

Vela waddled to the couch and plopped herself down, significantly less graceful than Sarah. "So… How can I help you?"

"Actually, I want to offer you a job a the A.R.C.?"

Vela was stunned into silence.

Sarah continued. "We haven't found someone to replace your father yet. You have the qualifications we need. Plus you've already been exposed to…"

"Yes!" Vela interrupted. "Yes! I'll take the job!"

"Okay! Great! We want you to start today if that's alright?"

"Of course that's alright!" Vela got wobbly to her feet. "Let me get ready!"

******

Sarah was showing Vela around, from the main room with the anomaly detector to al the little labs on the side. Finally they reached the end of the corridor to an office. A plaque was set to the side of the door. It read 'Professor Nick Cutter'. Vela froze. This was her father's office.

"We thought since no on had taken his office, you might want it." Sarah stayed behind her.

Vela slowly pushed open the door and was hit with the powerful scent of her father's cologne. She entered the office. Files were strewn across the desk next to a computer. Picture frames lined the desk, with smiling faces. Vela picked one up. It was her father and a woman with long dark hair.

"Is this Claudia?" Vela showed the picture to Sarah.

"Claudia? No. That's Jenny, She used to work here."

"Oh… Did she die too?"

"No, she is very much alive. This job was too much for her and she left. She was a very good friend of Nick's. How did you hear of Claudia?"

"My father used to speak fondly of her. I thought he had finally moved on." Vela sank into Nick's chair, absently rubbing her swollen belly.

Sarah frowned. "Is this okay with you?"

"Yes." Vela leaned back. "It's perfect."

******

By the end of the day, Vela was exhausted. Not from work, she had only finished three report, but from people wanting to meet her all day. Connor and Abby had come first to welcome her. Then a few of the lab technicians stopped in to tell her how much they idolized her father. Lester strolled in, grunted a few 'Hellos' and 'How are yous' before getting back to work. The day continued in the same way, one right after the other, coming to see the daughter of the famed Nick Cutter.

Now in the peace and quiet of her father's, now her, office, she read through her father's files, trying to catch up with everyone else. She learned about the science behind the anomalies, the types of creatures that had been seen so far, her father's theories, and the concepts behind the Matrix. She opened the filing cabinet, running her fingers over the ones she's already read. She stopped. Something caught her hand. There was a snag on the inside panel of the cabinet. She picket at it with her nail and it opened more. Quickly she removed the files blocking the snag and pulled it completely open.

Inside was a red folder, the tag was marked 'Claudia'. She carefully pulled it out of its hiding spot, her fingers tingling with excitement. She sat down again and placed the folder in front of her. Upon opening it, she saw a photocopied picture paper clipped to the top. It was a woman, probably mid thirties, with caramel colored hair. Vela blinked and grabbed for the photo on the desk, comparing Claudia to the one they called Jenny. They looked exactly the same. Vela unclipped the picture and began reading over her father's notes. At first it was written with pain and heartbreak, then moved onto shock at the sight of Jenny. He had compared Jenny to Claudia and noted that towards the end of his life Jenny had begun to pick up some of Claudia's personality traits. Vela read page by page, listening to her father's words.

'Why will no one believe me? Why will no one listen?'

Finally on the last page was a haunting drawing of Claudia that could only have been drawn by a lover's hand and a question. "Where is Claudia?"

******

Vela had fallen asleep at her desk and was woken abruptly by the screeching sound of the anomaly detector. She sat bolt upright in her chair, at first not recognizing her surroundings. People were running past her door into the main room. She moved to follow. Everyone surrounded the anomaly detector waiting for the coordinates of the next anomaly.

Connor, Abby and Danny were assembling their gear together. Becker had the soldiers under his wing and they headed out. Sarah sat at one of the islands surrounding the anomaly detector. Vela inched up to her.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Becker over heard her. "Nothing. Not in your condition."

"Wait." Vela blocked Becker's way. "Are you saying that you hired me as the dinosaur expert and you don't want me to actually see any dinosaurs?"

Becker backed down from her angry glare. "Well no… But in your condition, we should take some precautions and until we know what we're dealing with you are staying put." Becker grasped his gun tighter and followed his team.

Vela turned to Sarah. "Can you believe that guy? Who does he think he is?"

Sarah smiled and shrugged, turning back to her work. Now that she didn't have to focus on the anomaly device, she had time to work on her other projects.

Vela fumed, she wasn't going to let her body get in the way of one of the greatest experiences of her life.

******

Mrs. Grapner's second grade class was the first to be attacked. Black goo lined the walls. Students and teacher lay paralyzed on the floor, looks of terror on their faces. An anomaly had opened in the middle of class to the delight of the second graders, who now thought their teacher could do magic.

The school had been evacuated by the time the team arrived. Becker and his soldiers entered first, guns at the ready. Connor, Abby, and Danny followed. Connor held the anomaly detector in front of him, following the blip through the maze of classrooms. Abby wrinkled her nose, as the stench of rot washed over her.

"Here." Connor stopped and pointed to the classroom on his right.

The door was open. Becker peered in with the barrel of his gun. The stench was sickening. Becker noting the scene to be clear, crouched down by the nearest child, feeling for a pulse.

"They're alive."

Abby and Connor both let out a sigh of relief and set to work locking the anomaly.

******

Sarah felt bad for Vela. She knew how it felt to be useless; to be left behind while everyone went off on these glorious adventures. She walked towards Vela's office with two cups of the new peach tea from the lounge. She pushed the door open with her shoulder. The office was empty. She sat down in the chair, figuring that she had just gone to the bathroom. She took a sip of her tea, savoring the soothing warmth it created in her belly. She glanced absently at the files on the desk. On top was a small notepad in the shape of a dog bone, probably given to Vela as a gift. Written on the pad was an address. Sarah's heart stopped when she recognized it. The anomaly sight.

Sarah jumped to her feet almost knocking over her tea. She grabbed her jacket and keys and ran for the door. She knew what Vela was up to and needed to stop her before it's too late.

******

Vela crept into the secondary school with as much secrecy as she could manage with her abnormally large stomach. She walked along the hallway, avoiding Becker's men. She dodged into a nearby classroom as a flashlight shone down the corridor. A clicking and hissing sound came from the other end of the hallway. She heard men shouting and tranquilizers being shot. Then screaming.

Vela closed her eyes and pressed her face in her hands. Silence followed the small massacre. She lifted her face and peered out into the hallway. Three bodies lay on the floor, a bloodied mess in a children's school. She waited a few seconds before continuing. She studied the bodies, examining the teeth marks left behind. They were small and sharp, with razor like precision. She guessed more then one of the small creatures had to have caused this damage.

A foul stench arose from the puddle of black goo beside the soldiers. She covered her nose, unsure of what it was. A hissing noise, like that of a rattlesnake sounded behind her. She stood slowly, fear tensing every muscle. She turned around and saw the slender form of the Dilophosaurus staring back at her. This dinosaur was a vicious carnivore with the ability to spit poison. The creature slinked forward as Vela backed down the hallway. She reached the wall and tried to flatten herself as the creature hissed and prepared to spit its venom. Time seemed to slow and Vela couldn't breath. She feared for herself and for her unborn child. The dinosaur reared back.

"No!" Sarah ran in between Vela and the Dilophosaurus. Black sludge splattered again her face and chest. She collapsed instantly.

"Sarah!" Vela screamed and caught Sarah as she fell to the ground.

Gunfire ensued and the creature was hit with several tranquilizing darts. Connor skidded down next to Vela and checked on his fallen friend. He smiled. "She's going to be okay, but she'll have a nasty headache when she wakes up."

Vela breathed a sigh of relief then remembered a small detail she had taken in earlier. "Connor! There is more then one of these things!"

Becker marched over to Vela, an angry glare on his face. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay at the ARC!"

"Well I'm here now so that doesn't matter much does it! What you should be worried about it the two or more Dilophosaurus' that are still out there!" Vela stood almost mirroring Becker's height.

"How do you know there's more than one?" Connor asked trying to relieve the tension in the air.

Vela walked over to the bodies of the soldiers and pointed out the different sets of teeth marks. "Look here there are at least two more out there. Notice the different sizes in teeth marks. It looks like two adults and maybe an adolescent."

Danny nodded, satisfied with her reasoning and began splitting up the team. He turned to Vela. "You and Sarah find a safe hiding place and stay there until I come get you."

Vela nodded, unwilling to argue when Sarah was in this state. Abby helped Vela drag Sarah into the nearest classroom. Once they were safely squared away, Abby returned to her team, closing the door behind her. Her, Connor and Danny were in a team. Connor had gotten a gun, he had used it enough times to be trusted with it. Each team went a separate way looking for the other Dilophosaurus. They made their way down the hall finally deciding to go into separate rooms, figuring this would make the search go faster

Danny kicked open the door, gun first, checking for any movement. "Clear." He said.

Abby did the same to the room next to it. "Clear." She said.

Connor checked his room and was about to say "Clear. " When a gush of black goo hit his face. Abby and Danny peered out of their rooms waiting for Connor's okay. They heard a thud and the clatter of a gun skidding across the ground into the hallway. Abby ran for the door, Danny following shortly after her. Abby gasped. Connor was lying on the ground covered in black slime with the Dilophosaurus hovering over him. It turned to them hissing, while trying to guard its prey. Abby took a shot at the creature, which it skillfully dodged by jumping onto the nearest desk.

It hissed and sprayed its poison at Abby. Danny pushed her out of the way, taking his shot at the dinosaur. It gurgled and slumped to the ground.

******

Sarah felt the numbness slowly leaving her body. A hand was holding her own and she squeezed it tighter. Opening her eyes she saw Vela smiling down at her. She was back in the ARC on one of the cots in the staff lounge. Sarah let go of her hand quickly and pushed herself up on the bed. She instantly regretted this. Her head felt like it was being split open and she sank back down on the pillow with a groan.

"Ow…." She pressed her palms to her forehead trying to massage the pain away.

Vela poured her a glass of water. "Here, drink this it will make you feel better." She held up Sarah's head to the glass.

Sarah took long swig of water. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you. You saved my life." Vela smiled.

Sarah lay back down. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that…"

Vela shushed her. "No really! You did!"

Sarah laughed. "Okay, I guess…"

"How did you know I had gone there?" Vela brushed a stray hair from Sarah's face.

"Well you weren't too subtle about it. I brought you some tea and found the address of the anomaly on your desk."

"Oh… that wasn't very bright of me…" Vela kicked herself for her stupidity. She laughed.

"No…" Sarah agreed. "Not really." Sarah tried to sit up again and Vela helped her. She leaned against the wall for support. She still felt weak from the dinosaur's poison.

"No worry Sarah. The poison should fade in a few hours."

"I hope so. I'm not used to feeling so weak," Sarah sighed.

"I know what you mean." Vela said. "When Becker came up to me and forbade me to come with him, I felt powerless. I hated that."

Vela paused as someone cleared their throat behind them. Becker was leaning in the doorway, a smug look on his face. "Vela can I talk to you please."

Vela turned back to Sarah, looking humiliated. "Well I guess I'll leave you to rest and check on you later. Okay?" Vela patted Sarah's hand as she stood up.

Sarah smiled. "Sure. See you later!"

Vela followed Becker as they left the lounge and made their way into the main room. She stared at the anomaly detector, studying it. Becker crept up beside her and folded his arms.

"I'm sorry, you know." He said.

Vela raised her eyebrows. "Really for what?"

"For doubting you, I guess. But you are going to have to be more careful, especially in your condition. I have no doubt that you are a strong, independent woman, but now that's changed. Now you have someone else to look out for. " Becker said calmly.

"Yes I know that, but give a girl some credit. Even in this 'condition'" Vela mocked Becker's remark about her pregnancy. "I can still be of some help."

Becker blushed. "Yes well now I know that…"

Vela started to laugh, she didn't know why. It just seemed right to her. She was now working at an organization where they tracked portals in time and caught and returned dinosaurs and other creatures back into their own time.

"What's so funny?" Becker asked. His breath caught in his throat as she hit him on the back with her palm.

"I'll tell you later Becks! Lets go get some dinner. I'm starving!"


	4. Raid Kills Bugs Dead

"Shit!" Danny said, dodging out of the way of the dinosaur. He fell to the ground, rolling out of the way. "You said this was a Herbivore?" He yelled at Vela, who was sitting safely in the jeep a hundred feet away.

"Of course I'm sure!" Vera yelled back, looking offended. "What kind of a paleontologist do you think I am?" Danny actually laughed, but he was almost trampled by the creature.

"Hey Nipplesaurus, I know your freaked out, but come on!"

"Actually," Connor said behind him, "it's a Nipponosaurus. But that was a good one." Conner said, smiling.

"Well, Connor, I am a comedian. Especially in life and death situations." Danny retorted leaping out of the way of the Nipponosaurus. It was frightened by the loud noises of the city, and was basically running around in circles. "Stupid creature." He muttered.

"This is not a life and death situation, Danny," Abby said side-stepping the animal. "It's a little herbivore."

"Little!" Danny yelled, which he at once regretted. The dinosaur let out a loud roar and swallowed Danny whole. Abby and Connor were silent in disbelief. Becker, who luckily was good in stressful situation, rolled underneath the dinosaur and shot him full of tranquilizers. The Nipponosaurus danced around a couple of times, each time getting more sluggish. Finally, it collapsed. Becker let out a sigh of relief. Abby and Connor woke up from their surprised coma-like state and knew what to do. They ran to the dinosaurs' mouth and pried it open. Becker ran over and grabbed Danny's legs, pulling. Vela and Sarah came running, and started helping Becker with the pulling. Finally, they recovered Danny, in full condition. Danny rolled over and spit out gooey white stuff from his mouth.

"Ew!" Connor yelled, laughing. "Dino-spit! And you swallowed it! You made out with the Nipplesaurus!" Danny looked up at him, covered in saliva, and kicked Connor in the shin. "Ow…" Connor said rubbing his shin.

"How did you manage to hold your breath so long?" Sarah asked, trying to hide her grin.

"I used to snorkel when I was younger, and you have to hold your breath if you want to go under. Stuck with me, luckily." Danny said, giving Abby and Vela a death look. "Harmless you say?"

"Well, he didn't eat you, did he?" Vela said putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, you should be so lucky." Abby said flipping her sweaty hair out of her face.

"Get over it." Sarah said, slightly nudging Danny with her foot.

"Damn, Danny. You just got shut down triple times." Connor said laughing. "Your in trouble now, mister man!" Even Becker had to smile at the three women going into defensive mode.

"Whatever, fine." Danny responded, giving up. "I'm just going to go home. I need to wash up." He got up, still dripping in saliva.

"But what about the…" Connor said, but immediately shut up after he saw Danny's face. "Never mind, we will handle it."

"Thought so,"

******

Danny retrieved his keys from his pockets, and unlocked the door to his apartment. As he was entering his home, his neighbor came out her door and saw him.

"Danny!" Moira said, pushing her incredibly thick glasses up. The unattractive woman was obsessed with the man, and continually looked through his trash. Danny usually avoided her, but after she took care of his beloved cat Ellie when he was stuck in time, he was indebted to her. So he had to play nice. Oddly, she looked like the prehistoric monkey human that had "befriended" him millions of years ago.

"Weird," Danny said to himself.

"What?" Moira said looking hurt. Danny mentally swore and turned to face his neurotic neighbor.

"I said you're here!" Danny said, planting a fake grin on his face.

"Oh, okay!" Moira said. She looked up and down, with a funning look on her face. "Why are you covered in umm, what is it?" She asked in her annoying voice.

"Oh this? I fell into a vat of, um, corn syrup!" Danny said. "I was chasing a perp, and fell into the corn syrup." Danny was proud of himself. He mentally patted himself on the back.

"So, Danny…" Moira started, but Danny cut her off.

"Listen, Moira. I would love to chat, but I really need to get a shower."

"Oh, yeah." Moira looked like she was picturing Danny in the shower, so he made a run for it. Danny entered his home, trying not to drip any of the spit on to his carpet. Ellie saw her owner and started to purr. She jumped down from the couch and circled Danny's legs in affection. He smiled and picked up the cat.

"Hey baby wonder. How are you doing this fine day? Your daddy almost got swallowed whole today!" Ellie made a sound of protest. "I know, chicky. You would have to live with the creeper, Moira Stalkenzer. Well, daddy is still around, so no worries! Anyways, one of the team would have taken you in."

******

Danny exited the shower smelling clean and as good as new. It took him an hour to wash off the stench of the dinosaurs' breath off him.

"Sometimes I really hate this job," Danny muttered as he threw on some clothes. He fed his lovely, adorable, smoochie oochums of a cat and flopped down on his bed for a nap. He was exhausted, and wanted to get some shut-eye. Finally he fell asleep.

Danny saw a face in his dream, a beautiful face, one that he recognized but couldn't place. He looked closer and saw it was Jenny, and had a serge of happiness. Dream Danny reached out to touch her, but she turned away from him, and faced a mirror. He saw her reflection in it. Jenny looked back at him, a look that said she was trying to tell him something. He was confused, until he looked at the reflection in the mirror. It was Jenny, but at the same time it wasn't. He didn't know the woman in the mirror, she was different somehow, but he couldn't place it. Jenny looked back at him and smiled.

"She's coming,"

Danny woke up with a start, falling off of the bed and hitting his head on the nightstand. He rubbed his head, looking at the time. It was 4:36.

"Shit, I'm late," The ARC was having an office party, for reasons unknown to him. He retrieved his keys from the bowl in the hall and headed out the door. As he was driving to the party, Danny thought about his strange dream. One, he still hadn't come to terms with his feelings for Jenny, so he didn't know how to deal with what he felt when he saw dream Jenny. Two, he didn't know why he didn't know the woman in the reflection. It was Jenny, an exact copy of her. And what she said was also confusing.

"She's coming," Danny whispered to himself. "What the hell does that mean?" Danny shrugged his shoulders and parked in the ARC's lot. He entered the building and was immediately hit with disco songs. "Oh, great" Danny said. "Abba."

"Hey!" Abby said running up to him. "Abba is awesome!"

"Yeah." Connor said joining them. "Your just jealous of their talent," Danny grunted and looked around the main floor of the ARC. Everywhere there were decorations. Streamers, glitter and he even spotted party hats among the gests. He saw Lester and laughed. Lester, who was "so against" this party from the beginning was not only wearing a hat, but he was leading everyone in the disco dance.

"Oh God," Danny said finally catching his breath.

"I know what you mean," Vela said walking up to the threesome. Behind her, Sarah and Becker arguing about something. "I almost went into labor when I saw our stuck up boss acting like John Travolta."

"I don't know, I think he is doing rather well," Becker said looking seriously. There was a silent moment, and then they all burst out laughing.

"Well Becks," Vela said clapping him on the back. "Why don't you go join him?"

"I don't think I could ever move like that!" Becker said. Ever since they had their little heart to heart a few weeks ago, they have been behaving more like brother and sister than co-workers.

"I have faith in you, oh fearless leader of mine!" Vela grinned, grabbed his hand and dragged him onto the dance floor. They looked so awkward and yet totally right as they danced, her, with her swollen belly and him with his awkward military body. They made the most entertaining dance couple on the floor. Everyone laughed and eventually joined the others: Abby with Connor and Sarah with Danny. Everything was great.

For all about ten minutes.

The anomaly detector went off, stopping all dancing and laughing. Immediately, the music turned off and every one of the employees ran to their stations. Danny and the rest of the team circled the anomaly detector as Connor got the coordinates.

"I knew something like this would happen!" Lester said. He angrily tore of his party hat and through it to the ground. "Why did I even bother?"

"Sorry, Lester." Vela said. "You can get your groove on some other time."

"Got it!" Connor said. "The anomaly is located in Merton."

"Lets go!"

******

"Alright, the handheld is saying it's somewhere in that forest." Connor said. The team entered the woods. At first glance, no one saw a thing. They spotted the anomaly, but no creature, so Connor went about closing the anomaly.

"Well, this was an easy one." Vela said leaning against a tree.

"Oh great," Sarah teased. " Now something is going to go wrong." And just as that last word came from her mouth, a sound started from the anomaly.

"What is that?" Abby said, going to the opening.

"I don't know. It like a buzzing sound." Vela responded. Becker and his men surrounded the anomaly, guns ready. Everyone was silent, waiting.

"Connor!" Becker yelled. "Anytime now." Connor was moving twice as fast to shut the anomaly, and just as he was about to push the final button, a swarm of insects came flying out of the anomaly.

"Ahhh!" Sarah screamed, dropping to the ground covering her head. Everyone but Becker and his team soon followed, covering their heads. Becker started shooting at the bunch of bugs, but there were too many. They swarmed one of the soldiers and stuck their pointers into the man's skin, and by the looks of it, starting drinking his blood. Everyone, including Abby, Connor, Sarah, Danny and Vela, started shooting at the mass of insects attacking the man. However the bugs were too small, so they only killed a small amount. In a matter of 30 seconds, the man was bone dry, so his attackers flew away in search of more sustenance.

Vela ran to the man, seeing if there was any possible way he could be saved, but everyone knew he was gone. The body looked like it had been mummified for centuries, all the blood was drained from the corpse. Vela was afraid to touch him, because it looked as if he would turn to dust. However, there wasn't much time to mourn his loss for more insects were pouring out of the anomaly.

"Connor!" Becker yelled. "Get it shut down!" Connor simply nodded and pushed the lock-in button on his device. The anomaly locked shut, however, tons of the deadly bugs had flown out of the rip in time, and they were headed out of the forest and towards the town of Merton.

"What the hell are those things?" Danny asked, breathless.

"I have no idea," Vela responded, picking up a dead insect. "It looks like some kind of advanced mosquito."

"Oh great!" Connor said. "Whenever it's advanced, its from the future."

"Well, no matter where it's from, either it has to be sent back by force, or terminated." Becker said, looking in the direction of the town of Merton. "Because those things feed fast. There is no telling how long Merton can survive."

"But how do we kill them?" Sarah asked. "Guns obviously aren't going to be useful."

"I know!" Connor exclaimed. "Raid! We can use Raid!" Everyone just looked at him for a moment, not sure how to respond. "It was just a suggestion." Connor said, down-trotted.

"How about the flame thrower?" Danny suggested.

"It's all the way back at the ARC." Abby said. "We might not have enough time."

"How about if I go get the flame thrower because I am basically useless at the moment, while you guys figure something else out." Vela said.

"Good idea, I'll go with you." Sarah said. Her and Vela ran to the truck, started it up, and were on their way.

"Now what are we going to do?" Connor asked bitterly. He still thought his idea was a good one.

"I don't know, Connor!" Danny yelled. He was really stressed out. He had no clue how to beat this one. "I guess we just go and try to warn people." No one could think of anything better, so that's what they did. Everyone boarded a car and headed to Merton.

Everything was in chaos. Bodies were strewn the street, people running and looting. There was no order, and it was making the mosquitoes hunt easier. The team had been trying to help the people protect themselves for hours. It was getting dark, which was worse because then you couldn't see the insects.

"Where are Vela and Sarah?" Becker asked worriedly. "They should be here by now."

"Yeah, and we really ,need that flame thrower." Danny said, hitting some of the bugs away.

******

It just so happens, Vela and Sarah had the flame thrower, but unfortunately were stuck in the worst traffic jam ever.

"OH MY GOD!" Vela yelled in frustration. She had the worst road rage when she wasn't pregnant, and with the hormones, she was even worse. She is so adorable, Sarah thought. Even though there were swarms of bugs on the loose, she couldn't help feeling happy. Here she was, all alone with Vela, which rarely happened.

"Caaaaalm," Sarah said trying to soothe the stressed out paleontologist. Vela gave her a look of death, which made Sarah laugh.

"How is this funny?" Vela snapped. "There are millions of super-mosquitoes that have probably killed dozens of people by now and we have the means of killing them, but here we are, stuck in a traffic jam!"

"I know, I know," Sarah said rubbing Vela's arm. "But you being mad isn't going to solve anything." Vela looked at Sarah's hand rubbing her arm and smiled.

"Gah, your right. Its just I feel so helpless." Vela leaned back against her seat.

"Look, Vela—" Just then, Sarah's phone rang and she inwardly groaned. "Hello?"

"Sarah! Where the hell are you and Vela?" Danny's angered voice yelled through the phone.

"We're stuck in traffic. We got the thrower, but there is no way we can get it to you."

"Christ!"

"How bad is it?"

"Bad," Danny responded and hung up. "Okay guys, we aren't going to get the thrower."

"Shit!" Becker said. "What are we going to do now?" Connor looked at them and knew what he had to do. He gave Abby a quick kiss, and ran out of their hiding place.

"Connor! What the fuck are you doing?" Danny yelled.

"Raid!" Connor yelled over his shoulder. He ran into the drug store on the corner, went down the aisles until he found cans and cans of the bug killer. He grabbed as much as he could, and ran out. He saw a swarm attacking a little boy, so Connor ran to him and tore off the cap.

"Well," Connor said shaking the can. "Here goes nothing." He sprayed a crazy amount of bug spray at the insects, which immediately started to die. "VICTORY!!!!" Connor yelled and jumped into the air. He turned around to face the others and raised one eyebrow triumphantly.

"Oh."

"My."

"God."

"It actually worked!" Abby said and ran to Connor. They each took a can of Raid and started spraying everything in sight. After about a half hour, they actually got all the bugs cleared. And in about 31 minutes, Vela and Sarah arrived with the flame thrower.

"We're here!" Vela yelled jumping from the car, eyes looking for killer bugs.

"Already taking care of!" Connor said, whipping the can of Raid around like he was from the Wild Wild West.

"What do you mean, taken care of? How?" Sarah asked.

"Raid!" Connor responded dancing around in circles. Abby laughed, while Danny and Becker stood brooding.

"Are you serious?" Vela asked in disbelief. Danny and Becker nodded their heads simultaneously.

"Lets just go," Danny said in defeat.

******

The whole team was surrounding a telly back at the ARC. They were watching the press conference about the killer mosquitoes. The PR person who replaced Jenny was horrible compared to her. He looked about twelve and had the voice of a ten-year-old girl.

"And so," Girly man said, wiping sweat from his brow. "The mosquitoes were apart of a lab experiment. Um, gone wrong! Yes gone wrong. And we will find these mad musicians. I mean technicians! Technicians! We will not sleep a wink or a blink until they are caught."

"Wow…" Vela said turning the telly off. "That was masterfully bad." Everyone else was silent. Lester fixed his tie, thinking he was going to fire this loon as soon as he got back to the ARC.

"Well, I'm of." Danny said. It was late and he had to feed Ellie.

"Yea us too." Abby said. Everyone was going down the ramp, joking and chatting now that there was imminent danger. But they would be there tomorrow.

"Hey Vela?" Sarah said at the bottom of the ramp.

"Yes, senorita?"

"I want to tell you that—" Sarah got cut off. For just when she was about to finish her sentence, an anomaly opened up in the middle of the main floor of the ARC. Everyone stared in shock. This had never happened before. But what came next was even more shocking.

For out popped a woman from the anomaly. She was curled in a ball, completely naked. She looked up. It was Jenny Lewis.


	5. Primal Blood

"Primal Blood"

Claudia eyes grew wide; she seemed almost feral in her panic. She backed up against the wall. Then realizing she was naked, she crumpled to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. Connor was the first to move, everyone else was stunned into silence. He quickly grabbed a blanket from the lounge and wrapped it around the woman he knew as Jenny. He helped her to her feet. Everything felt foreign to her, like she was experiencing it for the first time. She touched Connor's face, feeling the roughness of his skin against her hand.

"Jenny?" Danny walked towards her, brushing a stray hair from her face.

"N… No…" Claudia snapped her head back. "Mm… My name is not… Jenny."

"Claudia?" All eyes turned to Vela. She remembered the caramel hair and soft brown eyes of the woman in the picture she had seen weeks before. "You are Claudia?" Vela walked up to the woman, who still stood shivering in Connor's arms.

Claudia blinked, she knew those eyes and they frightened her. "Nick? Wa… where is Nick?"

"He's dead. He died almost six months ago…" Connor stopped as Claudia let out a heartbreaking scream, her legs gave out from under her and Connor followed her to her knees.

Tears fell down Abby's face, at the sight of the crumbling woman. Everyone stood frozen as sobs echoed off the ARC's walls.

******

Lester spun around in his office chair. "So is someone going to tell me what the bloody hell is going on here before I die! What is this about Claudia? I thought we were done with this whole mess!"

One of Lester's assistants stepped forward. "Claudia, as she calls herself is now in one of the labs getting checked out by…"

"Wait. What mess?" Vela interrupted.

Connor started to explain the situation from the beginning. "Okay. So according to your dad there was this woman named Claudia Brown who lived here and worked at the ARC. We changed something in the timeline and Claudia disappeared. We didn't remember her. Then Jenny appeared and Cutter said she looked exactly like the Claudia. Apparently Jenny is Claudia but was reborn with a different name and somewhat different personality…. I don't quite know how it works. But that's the jist of it." Connor sat down proud of his half assed explanation.

"What about Jenny? Shouldn't we call her or something?" Abby ruffled her short blonde hair.

"No. Well I already tried that, but her agency says she's off on some project in the Americas. National Security and all that. Completely unreachable. Blah blah…" Lester sighed and turned to Vela. "How come you recognized her when you've never met either of them?"

"My dad used to speak of a woman named Claudia and…" Vela searched through her bag. "I found this hidden in his office." She placed the red folder on Lester's desk.

Lester looked through it, skimming the pages, until he got to the drawling. He was still wrapping his head around the concept. How could two women be exactly the same, yet completely different? There was a knock on his door.

"Come in!"

Sarah crept in, closing the door behind her. "She's resting. She's in a state of shock."

Lester nodded. "When will I be able to talk to her?"

"Whenever she wakes up."

******

There was fire and screaming. The predators were coming in.

"Come on! Come on!" The man stared at the computer screen as the download commenced.

"We have to send her back now!" A woman behind him shouted.

"If this doesn't finish, there could be damage."

"There's no time! We have to go now!"

Claudia sat up quickly, gasping for air. Her long auburn hair stuck to her sweat slick face. She looked around her. The emergency lights were flashing. She stood up; she was wearing a long silk nightgown. It felt cool against her skin. The anomaly detector was going off, but the alarm was silent. The ARC seemed deserted.

"Hello?" Her voiced echoed back to her.

Claudia froze as a loud clicking sound answered her. She knew that sound and it terrified her. She heard the blood pumping in her ears. Slowing she turned around, looking for her nightmare. Perched on the wall, the predator clicked again, sending sound waves across the room. It sensed a heart and its mouth watered. Claudia's eyes widened as the creature sprung forward onto its prey.

******

Claudia shot up in bed, her heart beating ninety miles per hour. Her breath came out in struggled gasps. She jumped when someone grabbed her hand. There were those eyes again, looking at her behind waves of blonde hair.

Claudia took her hand wrapping it around her legs. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

Vela smiled. "I am Vela, and I am Nick Cutter's daughter."

"His daughter?" Claudia's eyes flickered with confusion. Now she recognized those eyes. "Helen's daughter…"

"Yes." Vela frowned. "She is dead."

"Oh I am sorry…"

"Don't be. I'm not." Vela pushed herself to her feet, her pregnant belly making it very difficult.

Claudia stood, helping Vela. Her hand rested on Vela's swollen belly. She heard the heartbeats of mother and infant. Vela watched the woman in her trance.

"Hey. Are you up to talking to someone?" Vela asked.

Claudia looked up with a blank expression. "Okay."

******

Danny was so confused. Jenny was Claudia, but Claudia is not Jenny… He watched as Vela brought her up to Lester's office. She looked fragile, like a porcelain doll. He followed them up the ramp into Lester's office and leaned on the back wall, folding his arms across his chest. Waiting.

"Lester? What happened? What is this place?"

"This is the ARC. Um… the Anomaly Research Center. And I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me. I don't actually know you…"

Claudia laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? We worked together. I remember us waiting for Nick to return with Helen after taking the future predators back. After I…" Claudia's cheeks burned bright red. "After I kissed him. You were there, and Connor and Abby and Stephen… Where is Stephen?"

"I remember being there and Cutter saying you had disappeared. We didn't know who you were or if you even existed. And Stephen… Stephen was killed by Helen's creatures."

Claudia looked down, her eyes brimming with tears. "Why is everyone I know dead except Abby and Connor!"

Lester looked offended. "Hey! I am very much alive!"

"Yea… well you don't count."

Lester scoffed and Danny giggled in the corner. Claudia, whoever had the same temperament as the girl he had fallen in love with months before. He cleared his head. This was not Jenny.

******

Claudia tossed in her sleep. The predator was after her and no one could save her in this dream world. No one knew her, or remembered her. "No… Nick!"

Lester heard her shouts from the hallway. He slowly crept into her makeshift room and placed a hand on her shoulder. He tried to wake her gently from her nightmare. "Claudia?"

Her eyes snapped open and showed a primal fierceness. She got to her feet, wrapping her hand around Lester's neck, shoving him against the wall. She could hear his heart beating faster in her ears. He let out a strangled yelp as Claudia smashed his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious. She kicked open the door and walked into the hallway. She didn't feel anything. It was as if this primal force had taken over her and was telling her what to do. Connor strolled up to her.

"Hey. You alright?" He placed his hands on her shoulders.

She looked up with a blank expression before grabbing a hold of his shirt and flinging him sideways. She pushed people out of the way all the way to the main room. Meanwhile Lester had awakened. He went to the side panel and flipped it open, revealing a large red button. He pushed it and the alarm went off, red lights flashed from all the walls.

Claudia ignored it and made her way to the anomaly detector. She touched the keyboard and information seemed to flow from her onto the computer. The security team filed into the room; surrounding her, ready to strike. Becker tried to pull her from the computer, but instead was thrown across the room. He rolled on the ground and pulled out his tranquilizer gun, firing once. He hit her in the side, but it seemed to have no effect. She whipped her head around glaring at him with such hatred; her eyes seemed to glow with it. He aimed to fire again, but Abby stepped in his way.

"No! One more dose at that level could kill her!"

Becker lowered his gun and allowed Abby to help him to his feet. Connor, who had now recovered from his flying incident, tried to see what Claudia was doing, without getting too close.

"It looks like the schematics for the Matrix and a few other things. I have to get closer to see." Connor craned his neck over Claudia's head.

The computer screens flickered and Claudia looked drained of all energy. She faltered and fell to the ground. At that exact moment the power went out.

Connor and Abby locked eyes through the darkness. "What just happened?"

******

Lester sat in the infirmary, holding a large round icepack to his head. He frowned as they wheeled the unconscious Claudia onto the bed next to him. "What was she doing?" he stared at the woman who now looked very peaceful.

He got up and made his way to the main room. Connor was trying to restart the anomaly device and access the information that had overloaded the system. Finally the screens flickered back to life. "Yes!" he danced around looking for someone to high five. Seeing Lester he rushed over expecting Lester to raise his hand in response but instead slapping his shoulder. Lester gave him a very unamused glare. "Sorry! I thought…"

Lester rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Have you found out anything about the incident?" He looked over the computer screen as they rebooted.

Connor skidded back to the computers. "I was just about to find out." He tapped on the keyboard and went back into the most recent files. "Lester…" he stared opened mouthed as file after file flooded onto the screen. There was information about the matrix, the handheld anomaly devices, and technology they had never even heard of before. "This…" Connor stretched out his arms. "Is now the mother-board of everything having to do with the anomalies! There are files on technology and creatures and wow look at this!"

Connor flicked excitedly through the files. Lester couldn't believe his eyes. Everything they had been working towards was just handed to them in a neatly compact file. An announcement came over the speakers, it was Abby.

"James Lester and Connor Temple to the infirmary. Claudia is awake."

They looked at each other before rushing off to the infirmary.

Claudia looked pale and fragile, much like she had when she first arrived minus the nakedness. "Connor… I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me!"

"Hey it's alright." Connor smiled.

James Lester stared in disbelief. "Connor? What about me? You shoved me into a wall, almost bashing my head open!"

"Oh yes. James I am sorry for that too. How is your head?"

"It's fine! Thank you!"

Abby rolled her eyes at their childish need for attention. "Do you remember everything that happened?"

Claudia sighed. "Yes. Sort of… I remember I fell asleep, then a strange dream with fire and unfamiliar voices. Then a flash of bright light and I was awake. I couldn't control my body. I was watching everything going on but I couldn't do anything about it. It was the weirdest feeling. Then it was like I had to get to the anomaly device. It was my purpose. Then I felt like the life was getting drained out of me and then nothing. I woke up here. What is wrong with me?"

" We don't know yet but we are going to find out." Abby placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We should take her to a hospital. We don't have the proper equipment to perform the tests we need to do."

Lester nodded. "I'll make a call and you'll have what you need."

******

They held Claudia in the back of an armored car, for her protection and for the protection of other should she have another freak out. Abby followed in her little blue car. Lester and Connor stayed behind to work out all the information she had given them. They arrived at the hospital and were escorted into a private facility set up specifically for them. Claudia was now garbed in the painfully thin hospital gown and sitting on the cot. A nurse was taking her blood, while they were preparing the MRI. Claudia lay down on the small table while they strapped her down. Her eyes whipped around nervously.

Abby saw her terrified expression and squeezed her hand gently. "Hey it's going to be fine. No worries."

Claudia nodded and the table began to move back into the white tunnel of the MRI machine. Claudia breathed slowly in and out, she hated small spaces and closed her eyes as the machine flashed its lights. Abby watched her from behind the plate glass window. She felt sorry for her. She couldn't imagine what she was going through. Her whole life turned upside down and no one remembers it. She checked the scan and what she saw surprised her. She was no neurologist but she knew that this wasn't normal. Claudia's brain was lit up like a Christmas tree. It was like her whole brain was in use. The doctor couldn't explain it. He was baffled by the scan.

They table moved out of the scanner and Claudia was relieved. The nurses removed her restraints and let her sit up. She rubbed her wrists and waited for the doctor to appear. Instead Abby walked in, quickly closing the door behind her.

"Come on. We have to go!" She grabbed Claudia's arm and dragged her out of the room.

"What's going on?" Claudia asked confused.

"I'll tell you later. Just trust me we have to leave." They walked quickly down the hallway and turned the corner. The doctor who did the MRI was walking towards them with a procession of doctor's and nurses behind him. Abby shoved Claudia into the nearest room which happened to be a storage closet and closed the door behind them. She placed her hand over Claudia's lips to silence her. She waited till the doctors passed and crept into the hallway. They ran towards the exit and got into Abby's car. She sped off towards her flat.

"Now would be a good time to explain to me what just happened!" Claudia turned back as security filed out of the hospital.

"They were going to keep you for study. I overheard the doctor who did your brain scan. He wanted to study you and not in the humane way. They would have kept you there against your will because technically you don't exist." Abby swerved the car into the parking lot.

"Where are we?"

"My place."

"Isn't that the first place they will look for us?" Claudia gave her a skeptical look.

"Yea I know that I'm going to grab some stuff and we'll go. First we need to grab you some clothes." Abby rushed into her flat stuffing her bag with clothes. She rushed back out to the car. She tossed one of Connor's t-shirts and a pair of her sweat pants at Claudia.

"Where are we going?" Claudia began putting on the clothes. She looked down at the t-shirt. It had little cartoon versions of the Starwars characters. "What is this? It looks ridiculous!"

"Oh that's Connor's I think he wears them as Pajamas or at least I hope he does." Abby laughed at Claudia's expression.

"Oh." She sank back into her seat. "So where are we going?"

Abby made another turn. "Somewhere safe. Don't worry."

******

Vela sighed as she finally walked into her house. She was exhausted. It had been a long day. She hung up her coat and made her way to the kitchen. Se poured herself a cup of tea and collapsed onto the couch. A loud knock came from her front door. She grumbled as she pushed herself to her feet.

As she opened the door, Abby came inside dragging Claudia in behind her. "Vela! Thank God you're home! Is it okay if we stay here for a little while?" Abby looked desperate.

"Sure… What's going on?" Vela asked, shutting the door behind them.

Abby began to explain the brain scan and the doctor's reaction. "She isn't government property. I couldn't let them lock her up to never be seen again!" she was interrupted by her cell phone buzzing. She saw Connor's name light up on her phone. "Excuse me. One sec."

"Hey babe!"

"Abby would you kindly explain to me why a S.W.A.T. team is searching through out flat?"

Abby cringed. "Sorry. I sort of… stole something."

"What did you steal?"

"Claudia."

Vela took Claudia into the living room and offered her a cup of tea. Vela wanted to know everything about this woman who had become the obsession of her father. "I have something to show you." Vela reached into her bag and handed a bright red folder to Claudia. "My father never stopped looking for you."

Claudia ran her fingers through her hair and opened the folder. It was Nick's handwriting. Slowly she read through the file. It was all about her, from the color of her eyes to how she disappeared and theories on how to get her back. The last page she turned to was a picture of her drawn by Nick's hand. Tears filled her eyes. "How… How did he die?"

Abby was of he phone by no and had joined them in the living room. "Helen had taken over the ARC and one of her lackeys blew it up. She was trapped inside and Cutter went back to save her. She shot him… and he died in the ARC."

They all sat in silence. Claudia stared at the drawing. Her consentration was broken by Abby's phone vibrating across the coffee table. This time James Lester's name appeared on the screen.

"Hello." She took the phone away from her ear as Lester's voice boomed over the speaker.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking! They are saying that you kidnapped their patient!"

"No! They were going to keep her there! I couldn't let her become a prisoner!"

"Where are you?"

"Vela's house."

"Stay there! I'm coming to get you!" With a click Lester hung up the phone.

"Okay then…" Abby flipped her phone closed . "I guess we are going back to the ARC."

******

Lester drove the car violently. He was purple in anger. Claudia sat in the back seat with Vela, who didn't want to miss out on anything, absorbing the awkward silence. Claudia was so confused. She wanted to know what was wrong with her. She had memories that weren't her own. Thoughts of concepts she didn't understand. Abby sat in the passenger seat, trying to drum up an apology for Lester.

"Lester. I'm sorry for whatever trouble I've caused…"

"Ehblahblah don't speak. Do you realize how many phone calls I've had to make to get you out of this mess! They are saying you kidnapped this woman! They involved the police and wanted to make it a public matter! I finally convinced them that you were acting under orders to bring her back." Lester sighed in frustration.

"Again. I'm sorry."

After a short while they arrived at the ARC and all met in the center room. At the sight of the anomaly device, Claudia cringed. She could remember the surge of power slowly draining from her body. Lester walked over to the console.

"I'm tired of these games. I want an explanation for everything. Why are you here." Lester pointed at Claudia. "And where did you get all of this information?" He got up close to Claudia's face.

Claudia backed away, unsure of what to say.

Abby pushed herself between Lester and Claudia. "Hey! Back off! If she remembered anything don't you think she would tell us! I remember Cutter talking about her and how much he loved her. If he trusted her, so do I!"

Vela pushed herself and her swollen belly in between them. "Enough. Stop acting like two year olds."

They both backed off, looking ashamed of themselves. "Sorry."

"You should be. This is what's going to happen. Claudia will stay with me. I have a spare room we will keep her away from the hospital for the time being. And continue this discussion in the morning."

Claudia smiled.

******

Doctor Flemming sat in his office turning the vile of blood in his hand. The label read Claudia Brown.


End file.
